Amusement device



c. F. ZIPF.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2a, 1019.

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A TTOH/VEYS (I. F. ZIPP.

AMUMMENT DEVICE.

AI'ILICAIIUN mu) rm. 2:1. mm.

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25 25 Jill WITNESSES (WQMWL Br u A A TTORNEYS amusement devices, and more UNITED STATES Pa rENT OFFICE.

CARL F. ZIPF, OF J OHNSTO'WN, PENNSYLVANIA.

AMUSEMENT lDEVICE.

Application filed February 28, 1919.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CARL F. Zirr, a citizen of the United States. and a resident of Johnstown. in the county of Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Amusement Devices, of which the following is a pccification.

My present invention relates generally to particularly or game which may to a novel amusing toy toy or in connection he utilized purely as a with a game, my object being the provision arrangement inof a simple inexpensive the movement of volving in its operation, tolling balls.

in the accompanying drawings illustratcig my present invention Figure 1 is a perspective view of my 1mproved toy complete;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the upper rail;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the upper rail taken'snbstantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a portion of one of the uprights with certain of the operating connections;

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one end of the lower rail;

Fig. 6 is a side view of the toy provided with means adapting it for use as a game;

Fig, 7 is a plan view of a game board used in connection with the arrangement of- Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a side view illustrating another useof the toy in connection with the game, and.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a section of one of the intermediate rails of Fig. 8, showing certain means constituting a part of the game.

Referring now to these figures my invention essentially comprises a rack including side uprights 10 and 11 rising from a base 12. Between the uprights 10 and 11 are ex Specification ot Letters Patent.

Serial No. 279,869.

tended a plurality of rails including an upper rail 13 and lower rail 14:, and intermediate railslo, each inclined regularly throughout its length with its lowermost end terminating immediately above the uppermost end of the next lower rail, the several rails being inclined in alternately opposite directions.

Each of the rails is furthermore provided with a groove 16 to guide the balls 17 in their rolling movements, and each rail has at its lower end, adjacent to one of the uprights 10. 11. a discharge opening 18 through which the hall drops to the next lowermost rail. This is true of the upper rail 13 and the intermediate rails 15, while the lower end of the lower rail 14 is merely provided with a side recess at 19, so as to provide for the discharge of the balls. The upper end of the upper rail 13 is joined to a ball supporting rail 20 and adjacent the lower end of the latter is a curved upstanding abutment 21 located within the hall groove and against which the lowermost ball 17 of the series normally rests and is held above the upper end of a vertically shiftable rod 22, whose upper end works through a guide opening in the base of the upper rail. This rod 22 depends along the upright 10 and may be further controlled through a guide 23 secured to the said upright. and the lower end of the rod 22 is flexibly connected at 24: with one end of an angular rod 25, which acts as a bell crank.

The free arm of this bell crank 25 extends downwardly on the inside of the up-- right 10. and its lower free end works in a longitudinal slot 25* at. the lower end of the lower rail 14. for a purpose which will be presently described. This hell crank 25 is loosely coiled around a rod 26 extending across an opening 27 in the upright 10 through which opening the bell crank projects so as to thus form the fulcrum of the hell crank whereby a ball 17 rolling downemploying a, numbered dial 30 as seen in Fig. 9.

will strike the free end of the bell crank 25, and will by its weight cause rocking movement of the bell crank so as to thrust the actuating rod 22 upwardly and raise the ball 17 of the series resting against the abutment 21 to a point where this ball may roll over the abutment and downwardly along the upper rail 13 through the lower openin 18 of which it drops to the intermediate rails and in similar manner from each of these rails successively until it finally emerges on to the lower rail 14 where it in turn acts against the bell crank 25 as it is discharged to lift and release the next succeeding ball for similar movements.

It is obvious that the toy as thus constructed will be both amusing and inexpensive, and will necessitate a simple transfer of the balls as they are discharged to the upper ball holding rail 20.v

It is also obvious that the toy as thus described is readily susceptible for use, and with but slight addition as a game, by fixing a game board 28 to the rack base 12, as seen in Fig. 6, adjacent the lower discharge end of the lower rail 14. This game board 28 may have a series of numberedrecesses 29 into any one of which the ball discharged from the lower rail is susceptible of final resting.

The toy may be also utilized as a game by seen in Fig. 8 in connection with certain of the intermediate rails 15 for instance, the dial having a pointer 31 on a shaft 32 mounted through brackets 33 attached to the respective rail and depending therefrom as clearly The shaft 32 will also be provided with a wheel between the brackets 33 having radial arms 34 arranged to pro ject upwardly through a longitudinal slot in the rack rail and thus into'the path of rolling movement of the balls 17', in this way each ball in its downward travel will encounter one of the arms 34, and thus set the wheel innotative motion, which, transmitted through the shaft 32 will rotate the hand 31 on the dial 30. The wheel with the arms 34 will of course be so arranged that in any position of rest one of its arms will be more or less in the path of movement of the rolling 'ball, so that the extent of rotation of the dial hand 31 will be varied and will depend at each operation upon the extent to which one of the arms 34% happens to project intothe path of movement of the rolling "ball.

It is thus obvious that my invention is susceptible of considerable extension and various uses in connection with games in addition to its use simply as a toy, and it is to be understood that in connection with the gamesof F igs, 6 to 9, inclusive, the balls are released from the ball holding rail 20 and descend through the several rails of the rack in the same manner as previously described in connection with Figs; 1 to 5 inclusive.

I claim 1. An amusement device of the character described comprising a rack including a plurality of rails alternately inclined in opposite directions, and each having a discharge opening at its lowerend above the upper end of the next succeeding rail, the lowermost rail having a discharge recessand a lengthwise slot adjacent said recess, a ball holding rail adjoining the upper end of the upper rail and having a ball holding abutment, a rod, the upper end of which is movably mounted through the ball holding rail adjacent to the said abutment, and a bell crank, one end of which is inovably connected to the lower end of the said rod, and the other free end of which is shiftable in the slot of the lower rail.

2. An amusement device including a rack having a plurality of rails provided with ball guiding grooves and inclined alternately in opposite directions, each of said rails having discharge means at its lower end, a bell crank journaled in connection with the said rack and having one end normally projecting into the ball guiding groove of the lowermost rail adjacentto the lower discharge end of the latter, a ball holding rail adjoining the upper end of the upper rail and havinga ball holding abutment, and a vertically extending rod, which works through the ball holding rail adjacent to said abutment and the lower end of which is movably connected to the opposite end of said bell crank.

3. An amusement device including a rack having a plurality of rails provided with ball guiding grooves and inclined alternately in opposite directions, each of said rails having discharge means at its lower end, a bell crank journaled in connection with the said rack and having one end normally pro ecting into the ball guiding groove of the lowermost rail adjacent to the lower discharge end of the latter; a ball holding abutment mounted adjacent to the upper end of the uppermost rail to form a ball rest at one side thereof, and a vertically shiftable rod, the lower end of which is movably connected to the opposite end of the said bell crank and the upper end of which terminates slightly above the said abutment to engage a ball at rest against the abutment,

the upper end of.

it. In an amusement device, a ball rack having a plurality of ball guide rails inclined in alternately opposite directions and each provided with discharge means at its lower end located above theend of the next lowermost rail, one of said rails having a longitudinal slot, a dial, a hand movable on the dial, a shaftupon which said hand is secured, and a wheel secured on the said shaft having arms movable through the slot of the said rail into the path of movement of the ball on the rail.

5. In an amusement device, a ball holding rack having a series of ball guiding rails inclined therein in alternately opposite directions, and each provided with discharge means at its lower end located above the upper end of the next lowermost rail, one of 10 said rails having a longitudinal slot and a therefrom and movable through the slot of 15 the rail, a dial at one side of the rail, and a hand movable on the dial and secured to the said shaft all for the purpose described.

CARL F. ZIPF. 

